Kentish Express Ashford & District
Musicians have carnival fun with German twins
Musicians from Ashford have returned from Europe on a high after performing in a traditional German festival.
Members of Ashford Folk, along with their partners, travelled to the Rhineland region in Germany for Carnival.
The celebrations kicked off with women’s day on February 4, and continued over the weekend with live music, processions and dances.
Over the course of their five-day trip, the band entertained people by playing in schools, town halls, pubs and in the Volks bank.
They even took requests and danced with the Mayor of Bad Münstereifel, Sabine PreiserMarian.
On the Sunday, they performed in the main street in Bad Münstereifel, which is twinned with Ashford, before and after the closing parade.
Group secretary Jim Davies, who is the former chairman of the Ashford Twinning Association, said: “The whole trip went extremely well.
“We played at a primary school on the Thursday which was fan- tastic as well as at the Volks bank.
“We’d urge everyone to put their money into the Volks bank – it’s great, you simply walk in and they give you beer, wine or champagne and play music for you. You don’t get that in Ashford.”
This was the second time Mr Davis had performed in the region, having played with band M Folk in 2009.
He adds: “People seemed to enjoy the German songs we had learnt and some people remembered from when the band played six years ago.
“And because we are involved in the Twinning Association, we just kept bumping into people we knew.”
Ashford has been officially linked with Bad Münstereifel since 1964. The Twinning Association regularly organises visits both to and from the town each year, as well as Fougeres in France, which is also twinned with Ashford.
For more information about the association go to www.ashford.gov.uk/twinning.